Phillies sign Gaudin

Chad Gaudin signed a minor-league deal with the Phillies on Tuesday. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

The Phillies added to their pitching depth early Tuesday morning as snow fell on Philadelphia, signing versatile hurler Chad Gaudin to a minor-league contract with an invite to major-league spring training. Gaudin, 30, played in San Francisco last season, and the Phillies would be his ninth major-league stop if he makes the club.

Gaudin appeared in 30 games last season — 12 of those starts — and finished with a 3.06 ERA, the lowest of his career. Gaudin spent most of the first half in the bullpen, then moved to the rotation in June, where he stuck for the rest of the year.

The move is similar to last year’s signing of veteran Chad Durbin, who was cut in May. Gaudin brings needed experience to a volatile bullpen that showed promise at the end of last season, but is still raw. The difference: Durbin signed a guaranteed one-year major-league contract, whereas Gaudin is not guaranteed as much.

Check out Gaudin’s Baseball Reference page here. Impressively, in his first 18 appearances last year (all as a reliever), Gaudin logged a 2.05 ERA, and threw two or more innings in 10 of those games. He made 12 starts the rest of the way, going 5-1 with a 3.53 ERA.